Venezuelan National Government fights food price speculation

Industry Minister Ricardo Menendez said Wednesday morning that the National Government is at war with those making big money out of food pricing speculation.

“Commander Hugo Chavez’ Government is working shoulder to shoulder with the National Guard to defend our people from speculators and oligarchs who pretend to harm our people” said the minister while paying a visit to coffee manufacturer Café Madrid, based in Carabobo (central Venezuelan state).

According to Menendez, the National Government works jointly with communal councils to guarantee two things to Venezuelan customers: access to public services and protection from speculators.

For the Bolivarian Government “food is a fundamental necessity for humans, but for the oligarchs it’s just a speculation product” said Agriculture and Land Minister, Juan Carlos Loyo, who had joined Menendez during the visit.

President Hugo Chavez launched National Coffee Plan in 2006 “and since then, we’ve been working hard to have finally a national coffee policy”. This policy “allows us to develop the first stage of the process: the purchase of 1.6 million of quintals of coffee by the National Coffee Corporation, which means a 53% increase if compared to the previous period,” said Loyo.

The minister added that the National Coffee Corporation is an achievement only possible by having social property with the industrial capacity of processing farmers’ products.”